COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man exonerated by DNA evidence in the 1980 rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl is accused of murder again.
Andre Davis, who advocates say spent more than half of his life incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit, has been charged with taking part in the October slaying of a South Side teen.
Davis, 52, was at a party in Englewood on Oct. 6 when an argument erupted between his nephew and the victim, 19-year-old Jamal Harmon, over a dice game, Assistant State's Attorney Robert Mack said Thursday in court.
Davis' nephew shot Harmon, wounding him, Mack said. Then another person shot him a second time.
But the teen was still breathing when Davis shoved him in the trunk of a Cadillac in order to get rid of the body, Mack said.
Davis drove from the party in the 6500 block of South Ross Street to the 7600 block of South Carpenter Street and dumped Harmon's body, which was later found with three gunshot wounds, stab wounds and two "long cuts along the front of his neck," Mack said.
Davis told a witness the next day that he cut Harmon's throat, Mack said.
After detailing the allegations against him, prosecutors indicated that Davis had previously been convicted of murder.
Raising his hand to interject, Davis told the judge, "I was exonerated by DNA" evidence.
He was convicted of the 1980 rape and murder of a 3-year-old Brianna Stickel, according to a report published the Chicago Tribune.
Aided by a relative of Stickel who doubted his guilt and Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, Davis was freed from prison two years ago, according to the Innocence Network.
On July 6, the two-year anniversary of his victory over the justice system, Davis will likely be in jail, where a Cook County judge ordered that he remain pending the new murder case.
Northwestern University did not immediately return phone calls regarding Davis.
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